The Top 25 Pop Icons

I think the top three almost have to be Elvis, The Beatles, and Marilyn Monroe. I’ll throw out some other names which, although are a little below the top three, should still be on the list (in my opinion)…

-U2
-Mickey Mouse
-Nirvanna
-Steven Spielberg
-Tom Cruise (I’m sorry, but like it or not, he is popular)
-Albert Einstein(does he count?)
-The Rolling Stones

RickJay, I’m not at all convinced that Elvis (or most of what we consider “superstars”) will be remembered 100 years from now. Fame is fleeting, and most pop culture that is hailed as revolutionary or immortal when it was first released is forgotten as soon as the generation that created it shuffles off to eternity.

Who now remembers the most popular song of 1903? The most famous singer? The most famous play? None but the very old, a few historians, and a handful of hobbyists who happen to be fascinated with the past. The vast majority of the 2003 population has no knowledge of, nor interest in, the pop culture of 1903.

At best, I think Elvis can aspire to the same level of fame that a 1903 superstar like Caruso currently enjoys; you’ll say Elvis’s name in 2103 and people will think, “Oh, he was a rock’n’roll singer a long time ago” without exactly knowing who he was or what he did or why he was important.

Wumpus, I suspect NO pop icon will be widely remembered in 2103 by the majority of people, but I’m guessing Elvis will be by a greater minority than anyone else, even if only as a stereotype or an ongoing Vegas tradition.

I’ll give you that #1 is just plain ridiculous. I would bet real money that both the number of people that have no opinion of Oprah and the people that hate her individually outnumber the people that like/love her.

But #2? What’s your complaint with the boyscout? I think I remember a few years back him and Mickey Mouse tying for first in “most recognizable characters in the world.”

World’s first self made female billionaire, eh?

What about the world’s first self-made billionaire, regardless of gender?

Oh… at the risk of sounding too lazy to Google, who, exactly, was Mary Pickford?

Also, in 1992 or thereabouts, Gallup released a poll showing that Mario (of Super Mario Bros./World/Land/64 fame) was the most recognizable face in the world…and yet, no mention, despite the legion of animated “icons” represented on the list.

And how in the name of all that is holy did Pele not make VH-1’s list when Michael Jordan did?

Or Herbie? Show me a more famous car, I dare ya…

Personally, I submit that Julius Caesar should have been number one…

Do you have a cite for that? I could’ve sworn that was the same poll I was thinking of and that Superman/Mickey Mouse tied for first and Mario was second.

Was Mohammed Ali on the list? Sorry but I thought it was such a load of crap when they proclaimed him “the most famous man on Earth” at the Olympics.

And what about that Jesus guy?

Wouldn’t Danny Kaye be a better super couple partner for Laurence Olivier?
Well technically Kaye was stalking Olivier but still…

Probably not true in 1996, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were true in the early 70s.

If the list is based on votes by people, then “such-and-such should be up there” is a moot point. A pop-icon is someone who at this time is widely recognized and/or appreciated, and that’s what’s reflected in the votes. If Oprah is on number 1, then that means the most people thought of her when hearing the word “pop icon”, and that, regardless of what you think of her, makes her a pop icon. (Not that I understand how she got to number 1, mind you). All of this is IMHO, of course.

Cisco, granted, I understand the "recognizabilty quotient (RQ) but Superman ahead of Elvis, Marilyn, The Beatles, MLK Jr. (and hey, if JFK can be on the list so can MLK, IMO) and a host of others including the modern father of what “pop culture” is and means, Andy Warhol. I stand resolutely by my post:

#1 & #2 are just wrong

P.S. Short Guy IIRC the list was complied by VH1 execs and their “consultants”.

[Eve lies down with a cool cloth over her forehead for a few minutes]

Good lord, can you really be that culturally ignorant? I mean, I don’t care for baseball or opera, but I know who Babe Ruth and Enrico Caurso were! Mary Pickford (the world’s first self-made female millionaire, by the way) was the first world-famous film superstar; the best-known and most-seen woman of her time.

And a damn good actress, by the way.

Wow, 30 posts and it’s already become a Pit thread.

Eve, not everyone is as aware of early film history as you are. Your interest in film and stage stars of that era, or even later eras, is extremely disproportionate to the norm. Given that Mary Pickford’s films didn’t really survive long enough to be part of the public consciousness today (unlike, say, the films of later stars like Bogart) it’s hardly surprising some people don’t know who she is, and doesn’t prove the person is culturally ignorant. Ignorant of movies of the 1910s-1920s, maybe, but that’s not a hugely important thing everyone needs to know.

And some people don’t know who Babe Ruth was, either. Yankees star Don Mattingly claimed that until he joined the Yankees, he didn’t realize Ruth was a real person - he thought he was a cartoon character. (Even then, Ruth’s a bad comparison. A better comparison to Pickford in baseball would be Cap Anson.)

Its not the 200 most important pop culture icons, get over yourselves people.

Oops. My bad. In that case, all of you have the right to complain. Carry on. :smiley:

Go randomly poll people on the street. Find out how many people don’t know who she is.

I don’t like her either, but it’s hard to ignore how she has impacted our popular culture.

I don’t really care where on the list he would be, but can we at least put Groucho Marx on the list?

Just for the record, I wasn’t really an avid moviegoer in the first quarter of this century; not having been born really put a damper on my trips to the cinema.

Cultural awareness by its very nature is dynamic- I would doubt that you can name the President of Mexico, but it doesn’t mean I’d consider you ignorant.

Regardless of how well-known her name is, Lewinsky’s contribution to pop culture is zero. She’s just a punchline to other people’s jokes. She’s as important to pop culture as, say, Wilbur Mills or Lorena Bobbit. (And if you’re saying, “Who are Wilbur Mills and Lorena Bobbit?” that’s the point.)

I’m not saying “who is Lorena Bobbit”, I’m involuntarily holding my crotch…

I think that the current top, number one, pop/hip-hop icon is mary j blige. She has always put down sicc beats but her new cd easily puts her at number one. check this songe out and tell me if i’m wrong(because i’m not)! check it out [link deleted by the forum moderator]